WIKI TIKI WEDNESDAY - THE TRAPPER JOHN QUANDARY

One of the biggest bugaboos for maintaining the Toobworld concept has been recastaways.  The Toobworld Dynamic is a visual shared universe only, unlike the Wold Newton Universe and the Wild Hunt Universe which are concepts of the mind.  They’re free to go about their business in combining the various adventures of Sherlock Holmes, for example, whether it be print, comics, movies, or TV shows with no worries about the difference in appearance.

Toobworld is restricted from doing that.  If a new actor is playing a part, “splainins” have to be found as to why there was a change in appearance, and why the people who see that character don’t notice the difference.  (This is why ‘Quantum Leap’ is an Essential – it provides one reason as to why other people never noticed when Sam Beckett leapt into the lives of all those people.)

Other splainins include witchcraft, replicants, alien possession, and tried and true plastic surgery. 

 But there was one recastaway that didn’t need any sort of splainin really.  That’s because it happened in another TV show and has been designated as just that – a TV series within the TV Universe.

From Wikipedia:

‘Trapper John, M.D.’ is an American medical drama television series and spin-off of the film “MASH” (1970). Pernell Roberts portrayed the title character, a lovable surgeon who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, California. The show ran on CBS from September 23, 1979, to September 4, 1986. Roberts played the character more than twice as long as had Wayne Rogers (1972–75) on the TV series ‘M*A*S*H’; Roberts took over the role played by Elliott Gould in the film. 

‘Trapper John, M.D.’ focuses on Dr. "Trapper" John McIntyre 28 years after his discharge from the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M.A.S.H. or MASH) in the Korean War. During that time after the war, the character had mellowed considerably. He did not merely learn how to stop fighting the system but became a part of it, in a sense, as the Chief of Surgery at San Francisco Memorial Hospital. Trapper shows tremendous compassion toward his patients, often violating "established hospital procedures."

Working with Trapper is an aspiring young professional named Dr. George Alonzo "Gonzo" Gates (Gregory Harrison), who has a lot in common with Trapper, having also served in a MASH (albeit during the later Vietnam War). His sense of humor and love of life also reflect elements of Trapper's younger days. In the show, Gonzo resides in a motor home (dubbed "The Titanic") in the hospital parking lot.

What I never knew until I started this post was that it sounds as if the producers were thinking of ‘Trapper John M.D.’ as a direct sequel to the movie rather than as a spinoff from the series.  Not that it matters, ‘M*A*S*H’ the movie remains in the Cineverse. 

So Trapper John McIntyre is a true Multiversal – BookWorld, Cineverse, Toobworld.  The Pernell Roberts TV show could be shunted off to Toobworld2, the Land o’ Remakes, but there were plenty of references to the show within other shows which are set in the main Toobworld. 

Here are some examples:

Barney Miller: 
Homicide: Part 1 (1980) 

Cotterman: 
"Zionist hoodlums"? 
Where did you pick that one up? 
Lynn Redgrave?
Haddad: 
That's Vanessa, stupid. 
Lynn is the one on the hospital show.
Cotterman: 
What hospital show?
Haddad: 
You know, 
The one with the guy who used to be on 'M*A*S*H'.
Cotterman: 
Oh yeah. 
Why isn't he on 'Trapper John'?
Haddad: 
How do I know? Ask the guy from 'Bonanza'!  

Magnum, P.I.: 
On Face Value 

Emily says she thought that only Gonzo and Trapper John dress like how Magnum dresses when she thinks he's a doctor.

Charles in Charge: 
Meet Grandpa (1985) 

Lila:
I thought Gonzo on 'Trapper John'
was a modern medical miracle."

Punky Brewster: 
Changes: Part 3 (1986) 

Unknown:
I saw this "Trapper John" once 
where a woman was in recovery,
and they gave her the wrong medicine.
Unknown2:
Did she die?
Unknown:
Worse--
she got amnesia and fell in love with Gonzo.

Nurses:
No, But I Played One on TV (1993)

Unknown:
"How come there were two Trapper Johns?"

Grace and Frankie:
The Negotiation (2016)

Frankie:
What's the password? Will you give me a hint? 
Grace:
It's the name of their favorite television show. 
Frankie:
I don't know,
Grace:
Trapper John, M. D.

And it was watched by the robots on board the Satellite of Love…..

Mystery Science Theater 3000:

Gamera (1991)
"Meanwhile, on 'Trapper John'"

Stranded in Space (1991)
"Meanwhile on Trapper John"

The Amazing Colossal Man (1991)
"Next on a very special...."

Mighty Jack (1991)
"On a very special 'Trapper John, M.D.'"

Master Ninja I (1992)
"Next, on a very special 'Trapper John.'"

Being from Another Planet

title mention

San Francisco International (1994)
"Had it been real,
I wouldn't have done 'Trapper John.'"  

So in the 1970s, some TV producer must have contacted Dr. John McIntyre and bought the rights to his story.  But instead of making a show about his time in the Korean Conflict, they wanted to focus on his current career as a physician.

It’s only conjecture, but I think Trap came to the producer’s notice for some huge medical procedure which made the news.  It was probably adapted for the TV show but the names of those involved, save for Trapper John himself, were changed to protect their private lives (and to save the producer from having to pay them as well.)

By treating ‘Trapper John, M.D.’ as a TV show within the TV Universe, it becomes Zonk-proof. 

And one last show I have to worry about…..

BCnU!